Making Trade Missions Work: A Best Practice Guide to International Business and Commercial Diplomacy

Huub Ruël
Hotelschool the Hague, and University of Twente, The Netherlands


Product Details
Format:
Hardback
ISBN:
9781786354723
Published:
Publisher:
Emerald Publishing Limited
Dimensions:
96 pages - 152 x 229 x 14mm
List price £53.99 List price €65.99 List price $87.99
Categories:
Trade missions are a key commercial diplomacy instrument of governments around the world. Via trade missions, governments and politicians aim to promote their home country economy abroad as well as to support firms to explore and enter new markets. Despite its widespread usage, and the claims made by governments about the positive results of trade missions, actual robust evidence of trade mission effectiveness is scarce. The reason for this lack of evidence is that trade missions are mostly studied and organized in ‘isolation’, disconnected from the participating firms’ level of international experience and international business competences. 

This book presents a clear view on commercial diplomacy and defines trade missions as a firm internationalization learning experience. It outlines that trade mission's preparation, programme, and follow up, are key to making trade missions work. This book presents a research informed three-staged model of a trade mission and presents in detail how a real life trade mission was organized along this model. 

This example should inform and inspire organizers of trade missions. The book also aims to revamp and innovate trade mission research, and will therefore be a useful source for new trade mission research for international business scholars.

Chapter 1. Trade missions in today’s global economy: international business meets international relations 
Chapter 2. Trade missions at the heart of commercial diplomacy 
Chapter 3. Trade missions: definitions and objectives 
Chapter 4. Organizing a research informed trade mission 
Chapter 5. A three staged trade mission: a real life example 
Chapter 6. Conclusion: the future of trade missions
Huub Ruël, PhD is Professor of Global Talent Management and International Business and Diplomacy at Hotelschool The Hague – The Netherlands and research associate at the Human Resource Management Research Department of the University of Twente (The Netherlands). He is an expert on commercial diplomacy, business diplomacy and technology enabled global talent management in the international hospitality industry. 
‘Huub Rüel opens the "black box" at the micro-level and serves up an insider's handbook for CEOs and diplomats involved in trade missions as an instrument for collaborative whole-of-governance society.’ - Ambassador (ret.) Wilfried Bolewski, former Chief of Protocol to Chancellor Merkel

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